Earlier this month, “The Walking Dead” creator Robert Kirkman shocked fans when he brought the long-running comics series to an end, and fans have been wondering what in the world this might mean for the TV show version of “The Walking Dead.” And at the show’s panel at San Diego Comic-Con Friday afternoon, Kirkman took a moment to address that elephant in the room.
“This show is about the world,” Kirkman said early in the panel. “And we’ve proven that with the last season, and so anyone who is concerned that the fact this comic book wrapped up means that season 10 is somehow going to spontaneously end on episode four, as a surprise — that is not going to happen.
“There is a lot more story to tell. I’m very excited to be working with Scott and Angela to figure out like if there are any other threads in the comic that we didn’t quite get to to bring the world past that point. Because I think there is some story to tell when you’re talking about the world of ‘The Walking Dead.’”
The comics were well ahead of the show in the story, with the comic book story climaxing after a long thread of drama involving an advanced civilization in Ohio called the Commonwealth that the characters on the show haven’t even heard of yet. Plus, the comic book ended after the death of Rick Grimes, a character who has exited the show already and may or may not ever return — Rick/Andrew Lincoln are slated for a series of standalone TV movies but the actual show has already moved on from Rick.
But still there was concern that “The Walking Dead” show would end, as the comics did, at the climax of Commonwealth story — which would mean that it would end probably within three or four seasons, since the Commonwealth is the next big plot after the Whisperer War. But worry not, whenever they end the show it won’t be because they wanted to match the comic book ending.
TheWrap is in San Diego all week for Comic-Con 2019 — check out all of our ongoing coverage here.